Heater for automobiles



March 2, 1937. H. J. FINDLEY HEATER FOR AUTOMOBILES' Filed March l, *1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l die/y. M

J/Lm YT f A Fly 5.

March 2, 1937. H J FlNDLEY 2,072,744

HEAT E R FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Maron l. 1934 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 2Q 2 ,e3 26 L6 IN VEN TOE Hf, AT TORNEY.

.. Pemba z, ies? A 2,012,114 lmanna ron pronoms Holard (Llevelalult Ohio. assign or vto e Bishop bono l. Company, Cleve'- land, hio,' a corporation of Ohio `vAlllllllitifliill.Mfliisll l, 1934.' Serial N0. 713,543

^ comm. (Cim-1an My invention relates tol improvements in autol lmobile heaters and relates to automobileY heaters employed for the purpose of warming the air in the passenger compartment of van automobile 5 or like automotive vehicle. y

Heretofore, heaters have commonly employed a motor driven fan to force air through the air passages of a water radiator through which heated water taken from the water cooling circulatory system of the internal combustion engine of the' automotive vehicleis continuously circulated.

Such prior apparatus has usually been in'the form of a casing containing in its forward .portion the hot water radiator. the air, passages thereof extending in a forward andrearward direction therethrough. To the rearv of the casing in spaced relation thereto is secured a frame carry@ ing an electric motor, or the like, driving a fan having three or more bladesdisposed on theV 20 motor, shaft between the radiator core and the motor. The entire assembly, which is4 mounted in the passenger compartment of the automobile, is generally bolted to aV lower front wall of the passenger compartment, commonly called 'the dash, with apair of conduits passing from said .apparatus through said wall and making connection forwardly of the wall in the engine compartment of the vehicle with rubber or like tubes. Said tubes receive a part of the water forced through the cooling jacket of they automobile by the ordinary water pump therefor, and return the water which has been by-passed through the core of the radiator of said heatingapparatus to the intake side of-said water pump.

The placement of the heater of the. above. cir.I

similar type within the passenger compartment of the vehicle limits theroomprovided for the passenger so much as to involve personal discom' fort ofthe passenger in many cases, and inother cases where thel automobile manufacturer hasl sought toavoid such personal discomfort, itinvolves moreexpensive construction of the automOblle. j

An object of my invention therefore 'is to vpro 45. vide a hot water heater of the motor driven fanhot water radiator type, so constructed as to be eiliciently adapted for'` disposition within the engine compartment of the automobile, as distin-` guished from the passenger compartment, vand 50 to supply a strong current of heated air by a tub'- 1 bular discharge outlet extending within the pase.

senger compartment of the vehicle, said outlet element being of small size relativeto the size ofV the complete heater.

Another object of my invention is to provide v ing said air continuously by unitary hot water air heating apparatus mounted withoutthe passenger compartment of the automobile.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved air heater for automotivevehicles so 15 disposed in the engine compartment of the automobile Vehicle as to receive heat from air currents circulated within the engine compartment to increase the thermal efllciency'of the heater.

Otherobjects of my invention, though not spe- 20 cifically above referred to. will be clear from the following description of an embodiment of my inventionl as applied to an vautomobile for the purpose of heating the passenger compartment thereof and illustrated in the accompanying 25 drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating an embodiment of my invention applied to an automobile; l. v

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through an 30 assembled heater unit of the said embodiment comprising a heater casing, an air heater and air blower mechanism, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; V v

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of they appara- 3e tus of Fig. 2;A l l Fig.`4 is a front elevational view thereof Fig. 5 is a sectional view of said apparatus, taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a view taken partly in section and 40 partly in elevation of the said apparatus; and y Figi? 'is a sectional view of the said apparatus taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the different figures of drawings,

`in`all of which like parts are designated by like reference characters, at l I show the main casing of the `heater apparatus which is preferably made of sheet metal, and withinwhich there is mounted a sheet metal fan blower housing 2, a

motor casing 4 and a radiator casing 25, said casing having mounted therein, respectively, a

rotatable fan blower 3, a motor rotor 1, and a radiator core 2|.

of any desired type, the drawings illustrate a preferred form wherein a concentrated blast of converged air admitted to the interior of the motor casing 4 through a tapered tubular inlet element impinges upon cup-shaped vanes 9, a large number of which are provided in spaced relation on the periphery of the rotor wheel 1. The wheel 1 is'rigidly secured by its hub 8 on a rotatable shaft 9 suitably journaled in the tubular bearing III which projects axially from the motor casing 4 into the interior of .the pump casing 2.

The motor casing positely disposed, metalcup elements 4a and 4b' rigidly fitted together by their relatively telescoped sides; the end wall of the cup element 4b whichv carries the tubular shaft bearing III being rigidly afllxed 'by spot welding, soldering, or in any suitable manner, to the contiguous wall 2a of the pump casing, which is apertured to admit the outwardly bulging wall of the motor casing which in turn supports said tubular bearing I9.

The pump 3 is provided with a pair of spaced annular vane supporting ends II and I2, which are rigidly interconnected by the pump vanes I3, a large number of which are provided in spaced relation to each other, and which preferably extend inwardly from the peripheral supporting portions of said end elements. The vane supporting end I2 is provided with an enlarged air inlet port or opening I4 presented towards and disposed contiguous to a corresponding inlet port or opening I9 in the adjacent .side wall of the pump casing 2.

The peripheral wall of the pump casing 2 is preferably medlally beaded at I6 to strengthen such wall. The 'bead I6 provides a suitable peripherally disposed means whereby the pump casing and the main casing walls may be spot welded together, as at a plurality of points I1.

The pump rotor 3 is rigidly mounted upon a tubular rotor support I8 afdxed byv a set screw I9 or in any other suitable way to the end 9' of the motor rotor shaft 9. This is preferably accomplished by providing a reentrant tubular projection 20 for the rotor end II, said tubular projection being of such a diameter as to be slightly radially spaced outwardly of the bearing III, and substantially spaced within the converging radi- 4 comprises a pairof op- -allyinwardly extending pump vanes I3, the tubular extension 20 extending beyond the end of the bearing III and rigidly afiixed to the rotor support i8 as at I9'.

When the rotor 3 is driven by the motor 4, the vanes I3, engaging the air between the vanes, forces the air outwardly by centrifugal. force against the inner surfaces of the walls 3a of the pump casing, which are nearest the pump rotor at a point 3b and which progressively curvilinearly recede from the periphery of the pump rotor until a maximum spacing between the outer casing wall and the pump rotor is effected at points 3c, accordingfto common practice for air blowers of the type described.

A tubular discharge conduit 20 forming an extension of the pump casing 2 joins the walls of l the casing proper at the points 3b and 3c and extends outwardly from the pump chamber in av generally tangential direction to convey air set into rotary circulation within the pump chamber provided by the casing 2 outwardly therefrominthe direction of the arrows m, Figs. 2 and 6.

Meanwhile. new air is continuously' being ing passages 22 the internal combustion engine circulatory liquid relatively telescoped, sheet, I

drawn axially into the pump rotor through the aligned openings I4 of the rotor Il of the pump casing from the space within the main casing I of the apparatus. which new air has been preheated by being passed through the air passages of a radiator core 2I, which. in the embodiment illustrated, contains tubular transversely extendthrough whichhot water from cooling system continuously flows via the pair of hot water conduits 23. The radiator core 2I comprises a pair of heads 29 at either end of the tubular hot water conduits 22, hot'water being continuously circulated from one of these heads to the other from the water cooling circulatory system of the internal combustion engine with which the automotive vehicle is equipped.

To supply fair to the interior of the main casing I, from which it is drawn into the pump casing 2, as described, a tubular inlet element 21, aiilxed to and forming an extension ffrom the casing I, is provided, which is soldered orwelded by its radial lflange 21a to the inner surface of thefront wall of the main casing I. The tubular portion of the inlet element 21 is projected through the wall 29, which divides the passenger compartment of the vehicle from the engine compartment. In Figs. 2 and 7, I have illustrated by arrows y, the iniiowing currents of air withdrawn from the passenger compartment of the vehicle, and caused to flow lthroughl the entire length of the radiator core, being in intimate contact with the outer surfaces of the tubular water' conduits of theradiator core. 2 I.

The radiator is heldin place within the main casing I by spring pressure exerted by the coiled springs 29, encircling the hot water conduits 23 and interposed between outwardly deected apertured portions 24 of the casing I and rings 39 press-fitted onto the 'outer surfaces of said tubular conduits, the conduits 23 being rigidly affixed to the radiator core heads 26 and communicating with the interior thereof. The pressure exerted Vby the springs 29 forces the radiator core 2l forcore 2i is resiliently maintained in proper operated position within the main casing I, and adapted at all times to receive airfrom the interior of the passenger compartment on the one side of the wall 28, and to redeliverit to ,the passenger compartment in a heated condition. The radiator core redelivers the air which it receives from the passenger compartment in a heated condition by delivering the air received to the blower 3 through the ,hot air delivery tube 33, which extends from the tubular discharge element 2II of the blower forwardly therefrom through the wall 29 of the passenger compartment in suitable spaced relation to the air inlet tube 21.

Besides being laterally and vertically spaced from each other, the airv inlet and air outlet tubes 21 .and 33, respectively, are preferably of different 1engths,]the tube 33 being preferably the longer. At its end the tube 33 is preferably It will be understod that the conduits23 which communicate with the radiator core heads 26 extend outwardly through the apertured rear wall ofthe main casing l and are then connected to flexible rubber tubing 36, which, as illustrated in Fig. 1 extend to points such as 31 and 38, whereby the radiator core 2l is'continuously supplied with hot water from the operating internal combustion engine cooling water jacket from the point 31, the water being returned from the radi,- ator core of the apparatus to the point 38 on the approach side of the water pump 39, of the liquid cooling circulatory system. From thence it is forced into the engine cooling jacket 40 and againv returned through the conduit 4I to the point 31, whence a portion of the heated water is again returned to the radiator core as described.

The water cooling circulatory system for lthe internal combustion engine'comprises the usual radiator 42 for cooling the water in the system to prevent boiling thereof. A thermostatically operated valve device, indicated at 44, is preferably placed in the conduit 43 leading to the radiator 42, for restraining the ilowof water from the engine jacket to the said radiator 42, except when or until the water has reached a desired minimum temperature such as 140 Fahrenheit, which is Y Aconsidered to be a suitable operating temperature for the water surrounding the cylinders in the engine.

The thermostat 44, or equivalent device for the described purpose, hastens the heating of the water in the engine jacket by preventing premature cooling thereof by the radiator 42, land ensures that, within ashort time after the engine is started in operation, the hot water radiator,

core 2l, disposed within the main casing I,'will receive a ow of water suiiiciently heated as to lsubstantially increase the temperature of air currents directed through it and resupplled to the passenger compartment of the automobile or other vehicle, by virtue of the operationl of the blower 3, as described.

The air-'motor within the casing 4 is operated by placing the interior of the motor casing 4 in communication with the intakemanifold of the internal combustion engine, which m'ay be readily effected by providing a nipple 45, ailixed and extending through the wall 4a of the motor casing 4, and a flexible tube ofv rubber 46 or the like extended therefrom to the approach of the intake manifold 41 of the engine.

' In Fig. 1 I show a block 48 interposed between the carburetor 49 and the intake manifold 41 which is suitably apertured to maintain intercommunication between the carburetor and the intake manifold of the engine, and is provided with a lateralbore through which the tubeA 46 communicates with the interior passage leading from .more, which is suiiicient to cause a blast of heated air at high velocity to be projected into the passenger compartment of the vehicle when the 75 motor is in operation.

Often in mildly cool weather, it is not desired to heat the passenger compartment to the maximum degree and at such times the temperature can be suitably regulated by reciprocation of the adjustable knob 50 disposed on the instrument board within the passenger compartment. Said knob 50. through the rod 5I and flexible wire l2, rotates'a bell crank lever I3 to which v,the end of the wire I2 is secured to adjustably superpose a valve disc 54 over the inlet port 55, whereby the air, supplied through the conical inlet 5 to the interior of the motor casing 4 causing rotation of the rotor 1, is throttled in its path from the casing r4 vto the intake manifold of the engine. This throttling is adjustable andf the placement oi' the valve disc on the approach side of the port l5 causes the valve disc to be drawn closely against the surfaces of the port 55 becauseof the greater' presslue of air on the approach side of the disc. This eii'ect is sometimes popularly called suction effect.

It will be noted that the casing I is disposed within the engine compartment and reasonably close to the engine at the rear thereof so that heated air currents within the engine compartment impinge upon the outer surfaces of the metal casing I so as to substantially raise its temperature duringoperation 'of the engine. This arrangement is very conducive to efficient operation of the heater, since the air circulated through the casing by the blower is not chilled b'y contact with cooler walls of the casing', but on the contrary, the heated walls contribute to the heating of the air passed through the casing enl route to the blower.

Having thus described my invention in a specific embodiment, I am aware that numerous and extensive changes may be made from the embodiment herein illustrated and described, but without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I therefore claim my invention as set forth in the claims accompanying this specification and forming a part thereof. v

I claim: I

1. In a heating system for automotive vehicles having a passenger compartment and an engine compartment and a compartment wall therebetween, an engine in the engine compartment having a circulatory cooling system, a walled casing on the compartment wall in the engine compartment, clamp means on the wall in the passenger compartment cooperating with the casing to clamp the wallbetween the clamp means and the casing to support the casing solely by the wall and out of contact with the engine, aligned air inlet orifices in a wall of the casing and in the compartment wall, a heater comprising a heater housing in the casing communicating with the aligned inlet orifices and having an outlet orifice, air heating means between the inlet and outlet orices, means for supplying heat to the vair heating means from the engine cooling system and means for yieldably holding the heater housing upon thecasing inner wall to seal the housing with the air inlet orices and means to force heated air out of the casing directly into the passenger compartment. y c

2. In an automotive vehicle heater construction, a casing containing an air heating radiator comprising a liquid-heated core having a walled air passageway therethrough, conduits communicating with the core and extending outwardly of the casing for connection to the liquid cooling system of the vehicle engine, an opening in the casing wall, the air passageway of the radiator opening 4 aovami at one end into the casing interior and at its opposite end engaging the casing adjacent the periphery of the opening, the radiator being movable relative to the casing and resilient means maintaining pressure engagement between theradiator and casing. 1

3. In an automotive vehicle heater construction;

a casing containing an air heating radiator comprising Va liquid-heated core having a walled air passageway therethrough, the radiator being movable relative to the casing, conduits communicating with the core and extending outwardly of theA 4. A unitary heater for heating the passenger compartment of an automotive vehicle of the type having a wall between the passenger and engine compartments, comprising a generally boxshaped casing detachably mounted on the wall and within the engine compartment, a heat exchange unit and a blower within the casing, the heat exchange unit being movable relative to the casing, conduitrmeans adapted to eiIect circulation of heated water through the heat exchange unit from the liquid cooling system of the vehicle, adjacent perforations in the casing wall, one of said perforations forming an inlet through the heat exchange unit for air from the passenger compartment, the other of said openings formingan outlet for heated air from the blower; and resilient means maintaining the heatexchange unit in sealing contact with casing-portions adjacent said inlet opening.

HOWARD J. FINDLEY. 

